There’s only one semester left for graduating seniors, but the time for making after-graduation plans should begin 18 months earlier. Juniors should be thinking of whether they want to jump into the “real world” after graduation or continue school.

When preparing to apply for school beyond undergraduate school, students can gain experience, get involved with clubs, earn helpful letters of recommendations and develop leadership experience.

Health professional school

Emily Olson, academic advisor and coordinator of pre-health and pre-medical programs, said students should start preparing for medical school or other health studies beyond graduation as soon as they can, so they can complete requirements.

“It’s also important, as early as you can, to start getting different shadowing experiences, so you can [see] what people in the different areas do, so you really get an idea,” Olson said.

Students can also gain experience through research.

The medical, dental and pharmaceutical fields tend to be similar in requirements, while students in other fields have to pay attention to the specific requirements as they progress further in college.

“Typically, the first classes that students take, the biology and chemistry classes are the same,” Olson said. “It’s what’s required in terms of upper level courses that vary.”

Professional schools will be looking at GPA, both cumulative and science GPA. If there is a trend in GPA, they want to see an upward trend.

They also look at standardized test scores, whether that be the MCAT for medical school or the OAT for optometry school. Different professional schools may have different tests that they look at.

Olson said students should take the exam after they have finished the coursework included on the exam, typically at the end of their junior year.

Students should apply between junior and senior year. Developing a personal statement that goes above and beyond helping people is crucial, Olson said.

Law school

Bruce Allen, academic/pre-law advisor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said students should know the answer to two questions: Why do I want to go to law school, and what is the reality of becoming a lawyer?

Criteria for admission includes the LSAT, cumulative GPA and any transfer institutions, letters of recommendation, personal statement and extracurricular activities, especially activities that would allow a student to show leadership experience.

“Students can pursue any major that they want,” Allen said. “Law schools, at this point, really have no preference in terms of individualized major.”

While most students are in political science, some students who are pre-law are majoring in business or even engineering.

Allen said students often don’t declare pre-law until their sophomore or even at the beginning of their junior year. The pre-law program offers resources for interested students.

Students have different preparation options, going to website directly and taking practice tests, as well as taking an LSAT test prep. Many students do prepare on their own, Allen said. They should take the test 12-18 months before they go to law school.

“The best recommender is someone that a student has done work for through independent study, through research in a course, [like] a teaching assistant, or if they’ve been involved in a club and the advisor can write good recommendations,” Allen said.

Allen said it’s also important to be involved on campus in leadership positions, they could even take on the form of mentoring or tutoring.

Iowa State has a special program with Drake and the University of Iowa, where students can complete up to 90 credits at Iowa State and then they will transfer to law school at either Iowa or Drake.

“The courses not only count for the first year of law school, they will transfer back and also help them complete their degree,” Allen said.

Graduate School

 “There’s a possibility of [graduate school] to be less structured than undergraduate programs,” said Judy Strand, program coordinator for Iowa State’s Graduate College.

With classwork, students might be expected to do more research and independent study, rather than being told what they need to do. Students must also take more responsibility for completing the program, Strand said.

The two different levels of graduate programs include a master’s level and a Ph.D. level, as well as a certificate. Within the master’s program, there is an option to do coursework only, or students can complete a thesis.

The Ph.D. program involves a dissertation that has a research component. Ph.D. students have to appear in front of their major professor and four committee members to defend the dissertation.

“They would ask questions to the student as to what their research methods are, why they chose this and how they did their analysis,” Strand said.

Before enrolling in graduate school, Strand suggests students know what they want to do with their graduate degree. Will it help the student get a certain job or help them with a goal?

Students should also spend time researching what the requirements for the program are, such as a certain undergraduate degree or specific coursework.

Like other pre-professional schools, graduate schools have different admission requirements. Students often have to take either the GRE or GMAT, for business areas.

Students can look all over for graduate programs. Lately, there has been expansion into concurrent programs, where students can work toward an undergraduate degree and graduate degree with an extra year or two at college.

“There’s a new focus on graduate education and so we’re really looking at trying to increase our graduate enrollment,” Strand said. 

Junior year is a good time to figure out if continuing school is what students want to do. During junior year, students have the flexibility to get required coursework done and it also provides time to look for research programs that will help with admission.

The best resources for pre-professional schools and graduate schools are their websites and advisors. The schools can give the best information.